202 The Disillusioned Han Couple (1/2)

'She's dead.'

Han Myung Soo and his wife, Na Hee Young stared at the young girl blankly. It took a long moment for her words to register in their minds.

”W-what...?”

Yeo Ri repeated her words again, ”She passed away.”

Mr. Han helped hold his wife together. Taking a long, deep breath, he asked: ”When?”

”Hmm... maybe thirteen or fourteen years ago?” Yeo Ri tilted her head in a thinking manner. She was too young to remember exactly when her mother had passed away, so she only gave them an estimated number.

”T-that long ago...?” Mrs. Han croaked, her voice hoarse. She choked on a sob as she crumpled, her body trembling with grief. ”How... why...?”

”Lee Do Joon,” Yeo Ri said softly, a repulsive feeling lingering on her tongue, ”killed her. It made the news some time ago. Didn't you see it?”

”N-no,” Mrs. Han struggled to reply. Ever since she and her husband retired almost two years ago, they had stopped paying attention to the secular world, only keeping to their small circle of friends and hobbies and concentrating on raising their young daughter well. They rarely ever tuned in on the news anymore, and even when they came across such gruesome articles online or on the newspapers, they would merely skim through the headlines and think to themselves, 'the world is such a scary place,' and then forget about it. It was no wonder that they remained oblivious to their daughter's death for so long.

Yeo Ri observed the two's reaction with her ever-calm eyes. 'How nice,' she thought. As lonely as her mother had been when she passed, the woman still had people—parents—who cared for her and grieved for her.

”Hey! What did you do to my parents?!” A shrill voice rang out.

Han Ka-eul glared at the girl with hostility. She had looked away for one minute and the girl went and made her parents cry.

Yeo Ri met her angry gaze with her own apathetic eyes. She narrowed her eyes at the girl and responded to the challenge in her gaze with concealed antipathy.

Han Ka-eul flinched from the coldness in the younger girl's eyes, but before she could lash out, her mother loudly yelled her name.

”Han Ka-eul! Don't be so rude to our guest!” She scolded, her face red and her eyes brimming with tears. Finding out that her daughter was dead clearly took a toll on her as she seemed extremely distraught.

Han Ka-eul grounded her teeth as she seethed silently. She couldn't believe that her mother would protect that girl instead of her even though she had only raised her voice for their sake.

She turned away from the three and angrily stomped her way up the stairs. Several seconds later, a loud slam could be heard.

”Sorry about her behaviour,” Mrs. Han apologised as she dabbed her wet eyes with a tissue. Her hands were still trembling but she tried to hold herself back from breaking down. She forced a smile as she stared at the girl who looked so much like her now-deceased daughter, a trace of unconcealed affection and regret in her gaze.

”It's fine,” Yeo Ri airily replied. She thought for a moment before exclaiming, ”ah.”

Yeo Ri rummaged the bag she carried for some pen and paper. Fortunately, she kept a little memo pad and a pen just in case. She took them out and scribbled an address onto it.